Gambling is a definition in law. Are lotteries gambling? I. general view of money and material goods

There are always lotteries on the websites of large and popular casinos, but now gambling is banned in almost all Russian-speaking countries.


Owners gambling business have not disappeared, some of them work underground, and some have switched to the Internet, registering their companies in countries where casinos are not prohibited.

Are lotteries gambling? This question is of interest to many people, because on the one hand, money is also put there and the winner is randomly determined, but on the other hand, they are somewhat different from roulette or slot machines.

To understand this, you need to “dig deep” and first parse the term itself.

Are lotteries considered gambling?

By definition, games of chance are games where the participant's victory is independent (or practically independent) of his skills, but determined by chance.

In general, the term gambling has many meanings, for example, in the economic sphere it is interpreted as making a money bet or a bet on other material values ​​with a dubious outcome.

Based on this, lotteries can be attributed to gambling. In them, everything depends on the case and no professionalism helps the players.

However, lotto games are also held, which are called state ones. Surely you noticed on TV how such draws are held, and tickets are still sold in stores.

Often, lotteries are considered a scam, and sometimes this is true. Conscientious organizers of lotteries (which are now practically gone) collected money from huge amount people and thereby formed the winnings. Now they appropriate a huge part of the bank.

It is not difficult to understand this, the advantage of the casino works in this area as well. For example, after selling 100,000 tickets, the organizer must transfer to the winner the money spent on the ticket, multiplied by 100,000.

Of course, there are some costs and commissions, but in the end it turns out that the winner is paid only 50-60% (at best).

All this indicates the dishonesty of the casino organizers, so now it has become much less people who still hope to "hit the jackpot in the lotteries." The chances remain, but they are negligible, and even if you manage to win, the player does not receive the amount he deserves.

It's bad that lotteries are not checked for honesty, even in state lotto percentage is low.

Is it worth playing lotteries if they are not prohibited? After carrying out mathematical calculations, you can see that this is not profitable.

But, if you still manage to win, you will receive a huge amount, despite the large commission percentage. In any case, it's worth a try, and for better chances, use .

You will also be interested in:
—
—

games according to certain rules, the result of which depends more on chance than on the skill of the player, and is determined by a monetary or other property equivalent. From the most ancient times, A.i. were subject not only to moral condemnation, but also to legislative prohibition.

Legislation ancient rome forbade A.i. (The first of the known legislative attempts to prohibit A.I., dating back to the 3rd century BC, prohibited the game of dice). Winning in A.I. considered as the acquisition of property under an invalid transaction. The only type of games allowed was what later came to be called sports.

At present, among A.i. the most common cards. The appearance of card games in Europe dates back to the period of the knightly crusades (XI-XII centuries). The first documentary confirmation of the appearance of cards in Europe is the edict of the French king Louis the Saint of 1254, which forbade the card game within France under pain of punishment with a whip.

To Russia card games came to early XVII in. The Council Code of 1649 ordered to deal with the players as “as it is written about taty”, i.e. "beat with a whip and cut off hands and fingers with it." During the reign of Peter I, sanctions for A.i. have been softened. For playing cards, it was supposed only to “beat with a whip”. Subsequently, Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna introduced differences between permitted commercial and prohibited A.I., and Peter III replaced the punishment with whips with a monetary fine. It was imposed, however, only on those who played for big money or on credit.

AT Soviet time under A.i. understood not only games in which the winnings depend on the skill of the player and on chance, but also commercial card games, such as preference, whist, as well as games for money in billiards, dominoes, lotto, backgammon, etc.

Participation in A.i. in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offenses, it still entails administrative liability in the form of a warning or a fine with confiscation of playing accessories, as well as money, things and other valuables that are a bet in the game, or without it.

offense in the form of participation in A.and. for money, things and other valuables is manifested, firstly, in giving a person consent to the game, secondly, in making a monetary or other material bet, and thirdly, in the practical implementation of the rules of the game. This administrative offense is also expressed in the acceptance of bets by individual citizens in the form of money, things and other valuables during sports and other spectacular competitions (for example, on the run, during football and hockey matches, etc.).

An even more serious administrative offense is the organization of A.i. It can be expressed in the following actions: a) providing participants with playing accessories; b) getting involved in the game a wide range persons, i.e. advertising, arousing the desire of the audience to take part in the game, etc.; c) creation of favorable conditions for the game; d) the action of a player who is one of the organizers of the games.

The Criminal Code of the RSFSR also contained articles providing for responsibility for the organization of A.i. persons who repeatedly during the year (after the imposition of an administrative penalty on them with a similar violation) organized A.I., as well as those involved in A.I. on the money of minors.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not contain articles providing for liability for the offenses listed above. Thus, the state took the path of mitigating responsibility both for A.I. and for their organization. Moreover, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation contains Ch. 58, dedicated to holding games and betting. Like the legislation of many countries of the world, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation shows a negative attitude of the legislator towards them, however, the law does not invalidate obligations from games and bets, it only refuses to provide them with legal protection equal to other obligations.

From a civil law point of view, the game is an obligation, by virtue of which the organizers promise one of the participants to receive a certain gain, independent, on the one hand, of chance, on the other hand, of skill, dexterity, skill and other abilities of the participants in the games.

Unlike games, a bet is an obligation in which one party claims and the other denies the existence of a certain circumstance that occurs independently of these parties.

Transactions from games and bets are among the risky transactions in which the consequences in terms of benefits and losses depend for all participants on circumstances unknown (unpredictable) in advance. Obligations from games and betting arise from unilateral actions (from at least two unilateral transactions - the organizer and the participant).

The civil law of the Russian Federation considers obligations from games and bets as "natural", i.e. deprived of legal sanctions for non-compliance. Only the claims of persons who took part in games or bets under the influence of deceit, threat or malicious agreement of their representative with the organizer of games or bets are subject to judicial protection (Article 1062 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The term "gambling" has French origin, in literal translation means “a game of chance” (French hasard = chance).

Similar etymological forms are found in Spanish and Portuguese(azar - literally "dice game"). AT Arabic the word الزهر (al-zahr) denotes the phrase "dice".

Gambling includes games aimed at winning material values ​​(most often money) games, the outcome of which depends on random events. The skill of the players in them fades into the background or does not affect the results at all.

Gambling served as an impetus for the development of mathematical statistics and probability theory. Most gambling the probability of winning or losing can be calculated mathematically by analyzing the conditions on which their result depends.

For example, the probability of winning at roulette is determined by the fraction 18/37 when betting on one of the colors - red or black. With a long series of equal bets, he will always win, since the probability of winning is higher - 19/37.

Income of casinos and gambling houses around the world amounts to hundreds of billions of US dollars. The same volumes measure the losses of their customers. The greatest activity of players is observed in Hong Kong, Sweden, Great Britain.

Every year the share of online betting is steadily growing. The main "gaming" are euros and US dollars.

With the development of computer technology, a significant amount of gambling migrated to online platforms. For the most part, they are implemented in the form

Types of gambling

Gambling can acquire the most different forms. The most common include:

• card games;
• roulette;
• dice games;
• dominoes;
• lotteries;
• slot machines, including video slots;
• sweepstakes, sports betting.

Gambling should include any other games, the victory in which depends to a greater extent on the will of chance, and not on the skill of the player, and at the same time is due to the payment of material.

of French origin playing cards indicates the Jesuit legend in the presentation of K.F. Menestrie, who lived at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries.

According to legend, 1392 should be considered the year of the invention of cards, since it was then that one of the courtiers of Charles VI made the first samples of drawn playing cards with his own hands.

Much more reasonable seems to be another version, indicating the invention of playing cards on Far East, in China around the 10th century.

Photo 1. Images of ancient German playing cards

The appearance and methods of their application were borrowed by Europeans several centuries later during the colonial conquests of Marco Polo and other travelers.

Before the appearance of classical suits in the 15th century, swords, wands, goblets, acorns, and leaves could be depicted on cards. Varieties of such cards are still in circulation in some regions of Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, the first card games appeared in Germany and Spain.

Originally, playing cards were drawn. The process of their distribution was significantly accelerated due to the emergence of technologies that made it possible to print graphic images on paper.

The first printed cards were used for divination, as well as the simplest card games. Cheats immediately become an inevitable companion of card games.

The spread of card games was facilitated by their popularity among high nobility France and other European countries. Since the 18th century, gambling card games have been conquering wide layers of the bourgeoisie, and a fashion has been introduced for visiting gambling houses.

Since the 19th century, the production and distribution of playing cards in France have been under strict state control. It was the government that decided what should be depicted on such maps.

Until 1945, indirect taxes were included in the cost of playing cards in France.

There are also several versions about the origin of roulette. All of them, to one degree or another, are connected with the activities of the French monks.

Photo 2. Classic roulette wheel

Some scientists attribute its invention to the eminent mathematician Blaise Pascal, who gave the world this wonderful device just before his own departure to the monastery (1655).

According to other sources, the ancient Chinese puzzle, which was a “magic” square, on which 37 images of animals were required to be placed in a special order, became the prototype for creating a classic roulette.

Dominican monks wandering around Tibet began to use numbers from zero to thirty-six instead of animal figurines and place them not on a square, but in a circle in a chaotic order. It happened again in the middle XVII century in the open spaces of the same France ...

A century later, roulette has finally taken root in all European casinos and gambling houses as a must-have entertainment. Gradually, the tradition of placing roulettes in casinos migrated to other continents.

First official lotteries known since the 5th century. They were organized in some cities of Belgium and France as effective way replenishment of local budgets.

Photo 3. Selling lottery tickets on the streets of an Indian city

From the middle of the 16th century, lotteries began to be organized in Italy, and later became widespread in other European countries.

Lotteries are a type of gambling based on the drawing of prizes. Before the start of the game, a winning fund is created and tickets are sold, the total value of which far exceeds the size of the winning fund.

On the appointed date takes place random selection winners from among ticket buyers. Since there can be many winners, the probability of winning is really high. This explains the popularity of this kind of entertainment.

It is beneficial for the organizers to hold lotteries, since their organization does not require significant expenses. At the same time, they certainly remain with .

Many gambling games are thousands of years old. "Traces" of gambling have been found in almost all ancient civilizations: in ancient China and India, Babylon and Ancient Egypt, in Ancient Greece and Rome, in the Indian civilizations of the American continent.

The earliest forms are considered to be (1) dice, which is mentioned in ancient Indian literary monuments Bhavishya Purana, Rigveda, Mahabharata, and (2) bet.

More than eight thousand years ago, in Mesopotamia (the territory of modern Iraq), four-sided talus games were practiced. At the same time, the ancient Sumerians invented the board game "ur" with chips and a playing board.

Photo 4. Reconstruction of the Sumerian board game "ur"

For three millennia BC in ancient Egypt, six-sided dice were used to board games(the most famous of them is “senet”), special boards for fixing the results. Many tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs were decorated with gambling scenes.

Gambling was ubiquitous in ancient Greece, with the exception of Sparta. They are mentioned in many myths and legends, writings famous philosophers in particular, Plutarch.

According to Roman law, property lost as a result of gambling could be reclaimed by the losing party.

In ancient Germanic public entities losing such games could lead to enslavement.

In the 11th century, the tic-tac-toe game was born in Europe, which was considered gambling in that era, as it assumed the outcome of the game.

In the 12th century, the first gambling houses appeared on the territory of modern Italy, which soon spread to the nearby territories of France and Germany.

After only a few decades, legal restrictions began to be imposed on the organization of gambling establishments. To XIV century in Germany, they were completely banned (with the exception of houses offering roulette to the attention of customers).

The final ban on gambling establishments in Germany was introduced in 1868. From the 14th century, legislative prohibitions on the maintenance of gambling dens were introduced in England.

Gambling in Russia has been known since ancient times. The Orthodox clergy sharply condemned the predilection of the laity for this occupation. Since the 17th century, card games have been universally banned under the threat of corporal punishment.

Photo 5. Title page Peter's Maritime Charter, which prohibited gambling

Punitive legal norms in relation to persons convicted of playing dice or playing cards on were contained in the Military and Naval Charters, approved under Peter I.

The corresponding royal instructions were later issued by the empresses Anna Ioannovna, Elizaveta Petrovna, Catherine II.

The official ban on gambling was zealously supported by royalty throughout 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, until famous events 1917.

Legislative restrictions concerned underground gambling establishments. For the organization of sweepstakes and dens provided criminal liability.

Just a week after October revolution The Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee issued a decree on the immediate closure of brothels and gambling establishments.

For several years, proposals to legalize gambling and tax it were strongly rejected by the executive authorities.

In the period from 1921 to 1923, the executive committees issued one-time permits for the organization of gambling establishments. In subsequent years, a campaign was unleashed to destroy casinos and other gambling establishments.

Photo 6. Queue for lottery tickets"Sportloto"

In 1928, criminal liability was introduced for the organization of such institutions. An exception was made only for sweepstakes and lotteries, which were allowed to be carried out under vigilant state control.

The most popular in the former Soviet Union were the "5 out of 36" and "6 out of 45" lotteries held under the auspices of "Sportloto". Cash receipts from state lotteries were used to promote sports and develop sports infrastructure.

A number of gambling card games (in particular, bridge) have been cultivated for decades under the guise of sports, but since the mid-1970s they have been officially banned.

At the end of the 1980s, slot machines were installed in the Intourist hotel chain, access to which could only be enjoyed by those living in them. Foreign citizens. In 1989, the first Soviet casino was opened in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

After the collapse USSR Hundreds of slot machine halls and casinos were opened on the territory of Russia and in all neighboring states.

Since 2006, the organization of gambling establishments in the territory Russian Federation permissible only in four regions: in the Altai Territory, in Primorye and in the border areas of the Rostov Region and the Krasnodar Territory.

Since ancient times, gambling establishments have been considered a "hotbed" of gambling that appeared many hundreds of years BC in the territory of Ancient China, Greece and Rome.

From about mid-nineteenth centuries, such institutions began to be called casino(literally from Italian - "house"). In Italy, casinos first appeared three centuries before the invention of the term itself - in 1638 (Venice, Ridotto casino).

Photo 7. Casino in Macau

Meanwhile, the greatest craving for gambling is traditionally characteristic of the inhabitants of Southeast Asia. Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and southern regions In China, the density of gambling establishments is an order of magnitude higher than in any other region of the world.

In most European countries, the attitude towards casinos is much more biased. In Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, casinos are prohibited. In England, Germany, Italy, opening a gambling establishment will require a license, which is very problematic to obtain.

The lion's share of all casinos in Europe is concentrated in France (more than 80). The centers of the gaming industry on the European continent are Monte Carlo (Monaco), Baden-Baden (Germany) and others.

In the US, the largest casinos are concentrated in Las Vegas (Nevada) and on the territories of former Indian reservations in Connecticut.

In many countries of the world, visiting a casino by their own citizens is prohibited. The doors of such establishments are wide open only for foreign tourists. This ensures stable foreign exchange deductions to national budgets.

Roulettes, card games (mainly blackjack, craps, poker, nine) are considered the most preferred entertainment for casino players.

The ban on gambling is found in all world religions. In Orthodoxy and Catholicism, conciliar decrees have been issued imposing a direct ban on believers from participating in such games.

Since the 7th century, for Orthodox Christians, the rule of the Trullo Cathedral has been in force, forbidding laymen and clergy to “indulge in dice”.

Photo 8. Gambling is more typical for men aged 15 to 25 years

Gambling is condemned in Islam and Judaism. This explains the practical complete absence gambling establishments in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.

Excessive addiction to gambling gives rise to a pathological addiction - gambling addiction. In extreme forms gambling develops into mental disorder requiring medical treatment.

Inveterate gamers often suffer from mental disorders that affect their physical and mental development. From 30 to 40% of gamers suffer from asthenic disorders. Approximately 15% of them are prone to suicidal acts.

The theme of gambling is devoted to the works of the classics domestic literature Pushkina A.S. (" Queen of Spades”), Lermontov M.Yu., Gogol N.V., Dostoevsky F.M. ("Player"), Green A.S., Kuprin A.I., Mandelstam O.E. and many others.

Realistic plots of gambling are depicted in the paintings of the medieval masters Caravaggio, Georges de Latour, Willem Deyster, Hieronymus Bosch.

Historically referred to as gambling. Is this true? Gambling has been an attractive and sinful activity for thousands of people for hundreds of years. Gambling became a mania and led to ruin. Therefore, the ratio public opinion to gambling, negative. But how much poker is gambling, and what does it depend on?

What game can be considered gambling

gambling dictionaries define it as dependent mainly on chance. As opposed to commercial games that depend on skill.

But chance is present in every game and every contest. Even in completely deterministic games, such as chess, it is impossible to accurately predict the winner. Because randomness is inherent in the person himself. Today he is focused and plays well, but tomorrow he is distracted and makes mistakes. Or maybe he just has a toothache. And now a first-class player beats a chess grandmaster - this happens. Therefore, any reasonable ratings are always based on the probability of winning, and no one ever guarantees that a higher rated participant will definitely beat a lower one.

But back to gambling. Roulette is a classic game of chance, everything depends only on chance (we do not consider the possibility of fraud on the part of the casino or the player, this is unlikely in reputable establishments, and the results depend only on chance). And now the key question: is roulette a gambling game for casinos? And we must admit that it is not. Casinos receive a stable good income. Why? Because the game that is random in each episode is not at all random at a distance. The mathematical expectation (average win) for the casino is positive, it has its own couple of percent of all bets on average. And although the result of each game is random, with a lot of games, a stable casino income is obtained. And casinos are taking extra measures to reduce randomness. For example, limit rates. Some roulette propagandists claim that this is done out of fear that people will win with their systems. Nonsense. The mathematical expectation of winning at roulette is known and invariable, it is positive for the casino and negative for the player. And no game system can change that. But the casino is more profitable for you to bet a hundred times a dollar, and not once a hundred dollars. Because in the first case, the income of the casino is more predictable, and is not subject to random changes.

From here you can do main conclusion: the definition of "gamble" should refer not only (and even not so much) to the game itself, but to the way it is played. If you bet all your grandfather's legacy on one of your chess games, even if you have a 90% chance of winning, then chess in this situation is a game of chance. If you went to play roulette once, it is definitely a game of chance. But if you spend several hours every day playing roulette, then roulette is not a game of chance. You just consistently lose your casino money (no matter for what reasons and with what emotions, maybe you consider such a fee reasonable for your adrenaline, but the game itself is no longer gambling, its result is completely predictable).

Poker as a gambling and non-gambling game

But what about poker? All of the above applies to him. The outcome of one game is largely random. And even after an hour or two of playing, a beginner can beat the pros. But the longer you play, the less chance remains. And with a long game, the result is already determined only by skill. Unlike any games against the casino, it depends on you (and, of course, on the strength of your opponents). But in order for the game to be long, you need not to lose yours in the short run, so the bets in one game should be small compared to your bankroll (capital allocated for the game). If this is followed, then poker is not gambling. Note that this does not depend on your ability to play. If you play well, you will win, if you play poorly, you will inevitably lose in a long game, and no happy occasions in separate hands will not help you.

This conclusion is confirmed by the very fact that there are many poker professionals whose incomes are consistently high. Which would be impossible if the results depended on chance.

Sports (tournament) poker differs from the cash game in that the players' chips are not backed by real money. But the winners share the prize fund, made up of the tournament fees of the participants and / or sponsorship funds. And here, therefore, it is not the number of chips won / lost that matters, but the place that the player managed to take.

From the point of view of the degree of randomness of the results of an individual tournament, it is significantly higher than, for example, the result of a daily cash game during a month. As a rule, strong players get into prizes, but there are more strong players in tournaments than prizes. And even a great master can fly out at an early stage with an unfortunate set of circumstances. Therefore, for the sports evaluation of a player’s results, it is rather not the results of a single tournament that are important, but the average score for many tournaments in which the player took part, that is, a rating system that takes into account sufficiently deep places in tournaments (at least all hits in prizes). Within the framework of such an assessment, the influence of chance becomes negligible, and therefore it reflects the objective level of the player's skill.

The development trend of sports games

If we analyze the changes in the rules of sports championships over the past few decades, we will find general trend. The older generation remembers that at one time most competitions were held in a round robin or similar system, and the results were determined by the points scored. Now almost any championship in most sports games includes a preliminary selection of leaders, but ends with a playoff stage - a knockout game. Obviously, such a system is far from perfect in terms of ranking who is stronger and who is weaker. The results are largely determined by chance. A moment of absent-mindedness, a mound of ice that helped or hindered the winning goal, and objectively the strongest can be left without prizes at all. Why is such a system used? Yes, simply because it is the element of unpredictability, that same randomness, that makes the competition especially interesting. And this unpredictability is deliberately introduced, even to the detriment of the purely sporting goals of identifying the objectively strongest. In football, hockey, basketball, volleyball and most other sports, organizers introduce elements of gambling. (By the way, the cash prizes based on the results of these games are not at all small).

But in poker, the element of randomness is organically inscribed in the game itself. And TV broadcasts poker tournaments it is not in vain that they gather spectator audiences that are not much inferior to football finals. Because poker perfectly combines the need for great skill to get to the final table with the very unpredictability that makes watching the action so interesting and unforgettable. Especially when we already know the cards of the players, we can partially restore the course of their thoughts, and still the river comes a card that changes everything.

Thus, poker fits into the general trend in the development of sports games. Let's predict that over the coming years, the number of countries that recognize the sporting essence of poker tournaments will grow. Including, despite recent events with the abolition of the recognition of poker as a sport in Russia, tournament poker will develop successfully in our country.